Cluj IT Days 2015 from the point of view of presentations

There are still a few days left until Cluj IT Days, an event that has reached its third edition and has grown year after year. We have almost 320 participants, and if you hurry up, registration is still possible. For a good perspective, we have asked some of the speakers to describe their presentation, the target public and what the participants will be able to learn from the event.

A reactive world - Robert Cristian

In this presentation, we are going to debate the ideas contained in the "reactive manifesto", focusing on the analysis of the most important non-functional features which must be associated to a modern application.

The participants will be able to understand design principles that must be taken into consideration in the development of a performant application.

The presentation addresses application developers and architects.

Difficulty level: medium.

Evolving ideas with BigData tools - Tudor Mărghidanu

We are going to present the evolution of a software project and the transition from the standard ETL technologies to using a set of Big Data tools for importing and processing the data in a distributed environment. We will focus on the design concepts and models used in a real case, taking into consideration the performance and degree of maintenance.

The participants will learn concepts such as Big Data, design patterns, as well as a few rules to consider when developing an application.

The presentation is addressed to programmers, data analysts and people with experience in data acquiring and processing.

The topic of the presentation is represented by the Virtual Reality games, more precisely the creation and delivery of games that offer more than just visual information, namely extraordinary feelings and memories similar to reality. The audience is general. The presentation is to be done in a manner that is easy to understand by everyone.

Difficulty level: easy.

How to build your own Smart House - Călin Bunea

The presentation will teach you how to build your own smart house by using some quite simple and cheap electronic components. Moreover, some interesting and motivating automation ideas will also be presented.

The participants will learn that in order to implement different automations it is not necessary to have advanced electronics knowledge; that such automations can be done by anyone. The presentation is addressed to those who have some average programming knowledge and minimum electronics knowledge and who dream about implementing different automations in their own homes.

Difficulty level: medium.

Selenium WebDriver - patterns for maintanability - Vasile Pop

One of the major problems that emerge during the creation of an in-house testing framework of web applications is maintenance. The initial steps are generally easy, but in time, the amount of code increases, making it more and more difficult to adapt to the changes of the tested applications. Design approaches such as PageObjects, LoadableComponent, the usage of SmartWaits in code, simplify the task of keeping the tests synchronized to the application, representing steps to be taken into consideration during the incipient steps of projects.

The participants will be able to use the ideas of the presentation in their new projects or to rewrite parts of the existing projects. The transition to more efficient versions of design can be done gradually. The presentation is addressed to members of the QA teams or programmers interested in writing automated tests for web applications.

Difficulty level: medium.

Crouching Admin, Hidden Hacker - Teodor Olteanu

Network administrators lead a real battle with the evil-minded people who want to gain access to the confidential data of the company. Most of the times, everything happens without us even viewing this things. The presentation focuses on the importance of implementing a few basic rules for securing the networks and IT systems. You will learn how to protect yourselves against the most usual types of attacks and you will assist to a live demonstration. The presentation is addressed to the people interested in the IT security.

Difficulty level: medium.

"Make It Warmer"! - Dan Suciu

The presentation is centered on the idea shared by many people, namely that the agile approach of software projects represents the opposite of classical management methodologies. An important exponent in this line is Waterfall. Can we consider the two approaches as being extreme? And if yes, is there a middle way in approaching soft projects? These are just a few questions that we will answer to during the presentation, addressing all those who have worked at least once in a team following an agile methodology.

Level of difficulty: easy - medium.

On synchronizing data in distributed applications - Sergiu Damian

I often wonder why the alert evolution of technologies doesn't necessarily bring along an increase in the productivity of the industry. Maybe it is because, though we have more advanced technologies, the complexity and speed in which our life is unfolding are higher and higher. In this presentation, we are going to focus on the problems related to the synchronization of data in distributed applications, that is most of today's applications, especially the mobile ones. We are also going to analyze a possible multiplatform solution offered by Azure Mobile Services.

We are going to see together why the problem of synchronizing the data is not a trivial one, reason for which it probably doesn't have yet an unanimously accepted solution. We are going to consider a potential solution in the form of Azure Mobile Services. The presentation is addressed to developers, architects, product managers and to anyone who is interested in the challenges encountered in the development of mobile or distributed applications.

Difficulty level: medium - advanced.

Let's "GamEventify"! - Adina Grigoroiu

Suppose you wish to organize an event dedicated to the business environment. We are living in a time when conferences, congresses and events are within one's reach, both virtually and with physical participation. What can you do in order to organize an original event? How do you convince the participants that their time is worth being invested into your event? This presentation offers examples on how games can be used in order to increase the participants' involvement and willingness to experiment and learn new things. Of course, you will have to be open, creative and willing to work hard. The business events with an innovator, fun and captivating concept have a price. Are you ready to pay it?

Within this presentation, the participants are going to discover how games can be used to increase the involvement of the people attending their events and how they can create a memorable experience for them. The presentation is dedicated to all those involved in the organization of such events, whether they are big conferences oriented towards the communities they belong to, or internal events of the companies they work for.

Difficulty level: easy.

Healthy Organizations - Andreea Pârvu

In a context marked by constant evolution and dynamics of the market, a comparison between the concept of smart organization, centered on building a marketing strategy, a financial or technological one, and the concept of healthy organization, places the later in a competitive advantage, through the creation of an environment that reduces the risk of creating confusion, enhances the motivation and productivity of the teams, as well as the retention degree.

The presentation is going to have two directions of analysis:

How to build a cohesive leadership team;

How to create clarity within the organization.

The presentation is addressed to all the people who are part of a team, whether management or functional.

Difficulty level: low.

Start-Ups across cultures- Șerban Țîr

This presentation is a personal perspective on the similarities and differences between smart-ups in different cultures of West, USA and Romania, which I have noticed during my professional experience.

The people attending will have a better understanding of what the mechanisms of a startup mean. They will also receive some advice on how to develop their own startup.

The presentation is addressed to the people who are familiar to the startup culture, as well as to those who want to start a start-up.

Difficulty level: easy.

Machine Learning in the age of Big Data - Daniel Sârbe

An overview on the domain of Machine Learning and Big Data, mainly focused on the reasons why Machine Learning has become an important concept in the BigData era, including a demo algorithm of the online machine learning type, which we are developing in SDL Research at the moment.

The participants will be able to learn what they can do with Machine Learning in the Big and Small Data context. The target audience: anyone interested in the BigData/ DataScience/ MachineLearning domains.

Difficulty level: advanced.

Using artificial intelligence for automatizing software development - Răzvan Florian

It is estimated that in five years, the shortage of programmers will reach over 1 billion people on the global level. Hundreds of billions of euros are lost every year because there is no one to write all the code that is necessary. The crisis of human resources for software development is the greatest challenge of those running the IT companies. On the other hand, the technologies of deep learning are developing fast. Can artificial intelligence increase the efficiency of available programmers? How much can software creation be automatized? How can Cluj take part in the next programming revolution and take advantage of it? The participants will learn about one of the most important transformations foreshadowed in the software industry.

The target audience: all the programmers or people working in the IT industry or who are interested in it.

Difficulty level: medium.

Usable Software Design- Alexandru Bolboacă

"Usable Software Design" starts from the observation that the programmer is the user of the software design. Consequently, we can use techniques from UX/ Usability to improve the manner in which we create software design.

The participants will learn a new approach of software design, inspired from the success story of usability and UX in the industrial and graphical design. In addition, we will discuss about how we can apply certain techniques of UX to software design.

This presentation is addressed especially to programmers and technical leaders from organizations, but also to managers who want to increase productivity or decrease the time necessary to the integration of a new programmer.

Difficulty level: medium.

The Power of Play- Simona Bonghez

We all like to play. Studies have shown that besides the relaxation effect, the games correctly used facilitate the process of learning and increase the involvement of the participants, whether they are employees, students or clients. However, is Gamification a concept that solves all our problems related to involvement or commitment? Why is it such a debated topic today? These are but a few of the questions we will try to find an answer to during this presentation.

In the presentation, the following concepts will be clarified: Playful Design, Gamification, Experiential Learning and Serious Games. We will offer examples of ways of putting them into practice, and the participants will understand their benefits and the manner in which they can be applied in their companies, for real situations they are confronted with.

The presentation is dedicated to all those who are willing to try new approaches, who are looking for less conventional solutions. The level is general and does not require technical knowledge.

We are going to meet Baxter, a robot of the new generation. It will show us what it can do and how it can be programmed. The participants will be able to learn some basic principles in robotics and ROS. They will get in touch with the main challenges in the domain.

The presentation is for programmers, robotics enthusiasts and curious people.

In this presentation, I have gathered some of the challenges encountered on the occasion of implementing automated tests on the projects I have been working on. The presentation will tackle a wide range of technologies and tools such as Selenium WebDriver, UFT or CodedUI.

This presentation will offer the participants the opportunity to improve their knowledge on automated testing. It is addressed to all the people interested in automated testing, but especially to those who are working in this domain.

Difficulty level: medium - advanced.

It is easy to integrate young people in IT companies? - Dan Ionescu

This presentation is intended to investigate some of the realities on a labor market that has become extremely competitive and tough, where the need of new employees has become critical.

Many of these newcomers are at their first workplace and are very young. Are there any particularities in approaching them? Is it a different generation or is it the classical syndrome of "the young people of today…"?

We are going to analyze some opinions, general or more punctual, of those who come across this situation. Other people's experiences, whether good or bad, suggestions for or against different practices, they can all be food for thinking for the participants.

The presentation is dedicated to those who come into direct contact with the new employees: managers from different areas, those from HR. But anyone working in IT can take advantage of the optimal way of approaching a situation of this type.